Programme three
Discover superfoods and improve muscle tone and strength
Programme three
Follow a six-week healthy living plan, tailored to your fitness level, and reap the benefits from day one
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Programme three
This third six-week plan aims to increase the intensity of your physical activities and help you learn more about which foods your body needs as fuel.
Week six
Diet
This week’s challenge is to ensure you have enough calcium in your diet by eating calcium-rich, low-fat foods every day.
Osteoporosis
More people in the UK are now developing osteoporosis later in life, where bones become brittle and fracture easily. The condition is painful yet largely preventable. Two factors affect your risk of osteoporosis: calcium from your diet and physical activity.
Calcium-rich foods
Strengthen bones by choosing low-fat dairy foods every day, particularly milk and yoghurt. Sardines are another good source of calcium.
If you follow a vegan diet or don’t like dairy food, calcium can be obtained from green vegetables, soya, tofu and nuts.
Calcium supplements are also available as an option for busy people with limited diets.
Exercise
Bones that aren’t used for walking, climbing stairs and jumping tend to lose calcium, particularly in post-menopausal women.
However, osteoporosis doesn’t just affect older women. Men and women of any age can get it.
Regular weight-bearing exercise - for example, walking, running, standing and jumping - can help to prevent osteoporosis.
Exercise
For your final week, you’ll be increasing your threshold session to 30 minutes. There are opportunities to add variety to the other sessions. Continue to do two strength-training sessions each week, and keep exercising!
Your week
Your aim this week is to do two different types of 40-minute interval session on different days or replace interval session one with a hill training session. Hill training gets more muscle fibres working than walking or running on the flat, and places an extra challenge on the cardiovascular system.
Interval session one
Warm up by walking at a comfortable pace for five minutes.
Run for one minute at a perceived rate of exertion of nine, then walk for two. Complete this cycle ten times.
Cool down with a five-minute walk at a comfortable pace.
OR
Warm up by walking at a comfortable pace for five minutes.
Run for one minute up a hill (make sure it’s not too steep), then walk down it for two. Complete this cycle ten times.
Cool down with a five-minute walk at a comfortable pace.
Interval session two
Warm up by walking at a comfortable pace for five minutes.
Run for eight minutes, then walk for two. Complete this cycle three times.
Cool down with a five-minute walk at a comfortable pace.
Also increase your threshold session to 30 minutes.
Your week could look like this:
| Sat | Sun | Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri |
| 1 x 40-minute interval session one | Strength training | 1 x 30-minute threshold session | 1 x 40-minute interval session two | Rest | 1 x one-hour aerobic session | Strength training |
Keep the aerobic session at one hour, but don’t get too comfortable. Make sure your improved fitness is reflected in your pace.
If you’ve been opting for a particular exercise in this session, try something different. You’ll find information about the benefits of different types of exercise at BBC Sport Academy.
Do two strength workouts. Choose from the different options in last week’s challenge.
What next?
Congratulations, you have completed the final programme. Whether you’ve been with us for six, 12 or 18 weeks, you’re sure to have advanced your fitness, enhanced your weight-loss efforts and learned enough to enable you to continue on the road to a fitter, healthier you.
Try to maintain two strength-training sessions and three to five aerobic sessions each week, remembering that you’ll also be preserving your bones, preventing the age-related decline in muscle and metabolism, reducing your risk of many diseases and increasing your longevity.
Keep setting yourself new challenges so you maintain your interest in exercise and continue to increase your fitness levels.
Savasana
This restorative and relaxing yoga posture speeds recovery from exercise more effectively than simple resting.
Lie on your back with your arms out at a 45-degree angle from your body, with your palms facing the ceiling and legs extended. Allow your shoulders to sink into the floor, your shoulder blades to slide down your back, and relax your neck, face and jaw. Let your feet drop open and fingers curl. Focus on your breathing as you relax in this position for a few minutes.
